BRENDAN RODGERS hailed Liverpool’s fighting spirit as they survived a scare to get their Europa League campaign up and running.

Stewart Downing’s venomous strike midway through the second half was good enough for the Reds to win the first leg of this third round qualifying match against FC Gomel of Belarus.

In his first competitive match in charge, Rodgers was relieved his side emerged from their trip to the former Soviet Union with victory after looking second best throughout.

But they head for the second leg at Anfield next Thursday in a position of real strength after Downing’s terrific goal.

“First and foremost it was a win, and that was always going to be the most important thing for us in our first competitive game,” Rodgers admitted.

“We are nowhere near where I want us to be at the moment in relation to fluency and charisma within the team. But what is important until we arrive at that time – and we have plenty of work still to do – is that we fight for the shirt, defend and play with desire and passion. We definitely did that. It’s been a difficult pre-season in terms of travel and the squad not all being together for a while, so to win is incredible. It was a relief to come through – we’re not always going to be fluent and charismatic.”

Rodgers also allayed any fears over the fitness of Joe Cole who was substituted early in the game with a hamstring problem, saying the move was purely precautionary.

“Joe felt a tingle in his hamstring and it was better to come off earlier rather than play on and then be out for a longer period,” he said.

And the Reds’ boss shed light on the absence of Daniel Agger from the Reds’ squad last night.

Agger’s representative Per Steffensen hinted at unrest earlier in the day when saying: “He is not injured in any way. Only the club and the manager can answer to why he is not in the squad.”

But Rodgers insists it was never his intention to include the Denmark international for Eastern Europe because he requires further training to get him fully fit.

Rodgers added: “The plan was always for Daniel to stay behind. Everyone knows his history of injuries, he came back to pre-season training after everyone else and is still not up to speed. He is fit but I have to make sure he is up to speed before he plays. Everyone knows his history with injuries.”